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What's the story?
It is no secret that WWE viewership has reached near all-time low numbers in the weeks past. This week, SmackDown Live scored a small but significant rise in viewership ahead of Money in the Bank.
With a ten woman tag team main event, SmackDown Live had 2.183 million viewers tune in to watch all the proceedings. It is a 2.1% rise from the 2.138 million viewers from last week's show.
In case you didn't know...
While the quality of wrestling on SmackDown Live has been at par or even better than its sister brand- RAW, somehow the ratings have just plummeted in weeks past. This can be attributed to an unexciting product and perhaps stiff competition from other shows.
This week was the go-home show for Money in the Bank. In addition to the ten woman tag team match, there was a dream match between Shinsuke Nakamura and US Champion Jeff Hardy too! WWE Champion AJ Styles was present albeit merely in an interview segment.
The heart of the matter
Even though the show scored a small rise this week, it was still the second lowest number for the year 2017. One has to go back all the way to October last year, to find a lower viewership number.
That was the Halloween special episode and numbers are generally poorer for holiday shows. This is not a good sign ahead of the FOX deal for SmackDown Live, that the whole world has been talking about. SmackDown Live was #9 in viewership on cable TV.
What's next?
The men and women of SmackDown Live will compete at Money in the Bank. One assumes there'll be some new storylines thereafter. The show desperately needs a really good shake-up again!
How do you think SmackDown Live can become the A-Show again? Let us know in the comments below!
Bayley gives us a HUGE update on a top Superstar's upcoming return RIGHT HERE.
